The best thing people in Longmont's Historic Eastside neighborhood can do to protect their pets from poison-laced meatballs is to keep in communication with each other and police.

That was one piece of advice provided to the 16 residents who showed up for a Saturday night community meeting to hear about the status of Longmont police's investigation of a May 31 incident in which Doedo Schipper discovered three fist-sized meatballs stuffed with appeared to be green d-Con rat poison pellets as he prepared to mow the lawn of his home on the 400 block of Collyer Street.

Police have stepped up patrols in the neighborhood, said Master Police Officer Augie Bernal, who suggested that residents, like those officers, should be on the lookout for any suspicious activity and anyone passing through "who seems to be out of place."

Submitting tips

People with information or tips on the poisonous meatballs that have been showing up in at least one east side Longmont neighborhood should call police at 303-861-8501.

Tipsters who want to remain anonymous can also call Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8472 or send a text message to "CRIMES" (274637) and the keyword "NOCO."

Bernal and police animal control officer Tammy Deitz said a chewed-up plastic bag that one of Doedo and Gail Schipper's wirehaired dachshunds had brought home earlier last month — a bag that also contained green pellets — was being tested for fingerprints.

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Also being tested for fingerprints, Bernal and Deitz said, is a letter the Schippers received in July 2013 from someone apparently irate about the barking by one of their dogs. The writer had threatened to blow the dog's head off if it wasn't shut up.

Bernal said someone "appears to be targeting barking dogs," and he encouraged residents to quiet their pets or take them inside if they do get to barking.

Deitz advised the residents to let their neighbors know if their dogs appear to be barking out of control.

However, Deitz also said a check of police records found no instances of officers being called to check out complaints about any barking dogs in the neighborhood since at least 2006.

Bernal said there's so far "no concrete evidence" that the perpetrator might be someone who lives in the neighborhood.

Deitz and Bernal said people should scout their yards for the presence of such items as the suspicious meatballs found by the Schippers, before letting their dogs out in their own yards.

Deitz said the meatballs the Schippers found were sent last Wednesday to the Colorado State University Veterinary Hospital for analysis, but that it may be late this week before police get the results of whether those tests have shown that the meat was contaminated with d-Con or some other poison.

It can take days or weeks before the symptoms of poisoning can show up, the officers said, and Bernal told the residents that if they have a pet that's "acting out of the norm," then "don't hesitate to get them to a veterinarian."

Bernal said residents and police all have to work together "to figure out who's doing this, who's responsible."

The Schippers and their dogs may not be the first people in the neighborhood whose pets have been targeted,

Among those attending Saturday night's meeting at the Longmont Safety and Justice Center were Mark Slate and Mary Reinhardt, residents of the 400 block of Collyer who were out of the city in June 2012 when a neighbor caring for that couple's beagle and Manchester terrier let the dogs out and then saw the dogs sniffing at something near a backyard fence.

The neighbor found a meatball and picked it up before either of the dogs could eat it, Slate said.

Reinhardt said she'd heard that another set of neighbors, who have since moved, had a dog get sick last year.

The Schippers notified police on May 31 that they'd found the meatballs in their lawn, and they initially concluded that the dogs hadn't eaten any of the poisoned meat.

But this past Tuesday, one of Schippers' dogs, 6-month-old Casa, began bleeding from the mouth and underwent hours of veterinary care, including a blood transfusion after apparently having eaten a fourth contaminated meatball.

The Schippers said their other dog, 13-year-old Bucker, hasn't shown any such extreme symptoms, but that they're continuing to monitor both.

Colette Lottor, who lives a few houses away from the Schippers, told the Times-Call last week that her son's 6-year-old Corgi, Cody, died May 7 in a possible poisoning, just four weeks after it had arrived at the house.

Deitz said it's not known and cannot now be determined whether the Corgi was poisoned. No testing was done on the dog.

Last week, KCDO-TV host Aaron Harber said he's offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who's responsible for leaving the poisoned meatballs in the neighborhood.

Deitz said no similarities have been found in the Gunbarrel-area poisoned meatball case that the Boulder County sheriff's animal control officers have been investigating since April.

Tracy Kindorf, a Historic Eastside Neighborhood Association leader, distributes information packets before the start of a community meeting Saturday evening about the poisoned meatballs found in the area. To see a video about the meeting, visit timescall.com. (Lewis Geyer / Longmont Times-Call)

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